The Ways of Magic — Scott Ciencin

They came seeking sanctuary--bringing a fleeting peace and costly prosperity to a place like, yet unlike, their own dying world. And now humankind no longer rules the Earth.

Young Tom Keeper yearns to paint. But in the 1 world he lives in, only those who are chosen can be artists--following the commands of the lords rather than fulfilling their own visions. Now one of the lords has come to the village of Hope--and Tom may realize his dream. For, in the company of Aitan Anzelm, the boy can explore the bounds of his art and discover his inborn talent for magic a talent Tom must master if he and Aitan are to survive a coming war that threatens all that is and all that will be.